John the Baptist

[Minnesota]

Why is John the Baptist buried in a mosque? I thought he was a Christian figure?

[jno]

Muslims believe in Christ, though as another prophet not as the son of God. John the Baptist is said to be buried in more than one place, as I recall (one is the mosque in Damascus, can't remember the others).

[RevShirls]

IThe Umayyad mosque was a church dedicated to John the Baptist before it became a mosque. You can read more about it here:

http://www.syriagate.com/Syria/about/cities/Damascus/umayyad.htm

John the Baptist was supposedly beheaded and it is claimed that it is the head of John the Baptist that is in this mosque.

[jno]

yesss... other places that claimed to have the skull of John the Baptist would claim if challenged that Damascus had only the skull of John when he was a young man and that their skull was from when he was older and wiser.

[RevShirls]

LOL jno - that reminds me of a sketch from Blackadder. Percy is in awe of a sacred relic he has spent the family fortune to obtain. "Look Baldrick - I have here, in my very hand, a finger of Our Lord." Baldrick then opens a case to reveal dozens of digits and says: "I thought they only came in packs of ten." :)

[Octavius]

John the Baptist (also called John the Baptizer) is regarded as a prophet by at least three religions: Christianity, Islam, and Mandaeanism.

From Mt 14:1-12; Mk 6:14-29 and Lk 23:7-12: ....Salome took the plate with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod's steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptist in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod was possessor of a parcel of land. (The Uncovering of the Venerable Head is celebrated 24 February). The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebasteia, there where the wicked deed had been done....."

Sebasteia (now Sivas) was the capital city of the former Byzantine province of Armenia Prima, and Sivas is today the capital city of the velyat of Sivas, in Turkey, in Cappodocia.